Rent the Runway is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jennifer Hyman. As a student in Harvard Business School on break for Thanksgiving, she got the idea for the company when her sister was scouring through her closet full of clothes and still found nothing to wear to the occasion. It is not practical to buy a new dress you’ll probably only wear once, so she thought of a solution to that dilemma. When she came back to school, she immediately told her friend Jenny Fleiss about it and the two, soon got to work on a company that has revolutionized fashion in so many ways.
Hyman got her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and her MBA from Harvard Business School. Before formally establishing Rent the Runway, she got her experience from working for companies such as IMG, Starwood Hotels, and WeddingChannel.com. Now at 31 years old, Hyman’s entrepreneurial skills and the success of her Rent the Runway business have brought her recognition from important and influential people like Oprah Winfrey. Crain’s New York has also honored Hyman by adding her to their 40 Under 40 Class of 2012, and she was recognized by Inc. Magazine in 2010 as well, when she and Fleiss were included in their 30 Under 30 list.
Three years after Hyman and Fleiss first opened shop, Rent the Runway has grown. The company now has 100 employees and offers 175 brands to its over 3 million members across America. This rapid expansion brought about a need for a larger facility, and so they opened a large warehouse in New Jersey and are planning to open one in Los Angeles soon.